Ruined: Loving An Alpha Male: BWWM Romance (10 page)

“Hey, I was wondering if you…um…wanted to have dinner?”

She sounded hesitant and apprehensive, and I found that to be extremely sexy.

“Dinner tonight?” I answered, thinking about having to go outside.

“Yes, I, um, felt like having Chicken Alfredo with fresh garlic bread and salad. Does that sound good?” she asked me.

“I love pasta.”

“What she say, Mason?” Marie asked me.

“Oh, I’m sorry. You have company. I should have called earlier. I’m sorry to have bothered…”

“Whoa, wait. Hold on,” I said frantically to Marie. “Maxine?”

“Yes,” she said back to me breathlessly.

“Give me one second, okay?”

I placed the phone against my chest and looked up at my twin and his wife.

“It’s time for me to say goodnight. Kiss Lexie and Lisa for me and punch MJ in his chest. I’ve got to go!”

“Wait. We have business to…,” my brother started, but I interrupted.

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

I disconnected the call on my television and then turned it off just to make sure they were gone. I took a deep breath and brought my phone to my ear.

“Maxine, are you still there?”

I exhaled deeply when I heard her say ‘yes.’

“Okay, so tell me again what you have planned.”

I slouched back on my couch.

She paused a second and then said, “Are you sure I’m not disturbing you?”

“No, you’re not. I assure you,” I told her, hoping she would believe me. “So are you wanting to go out?”

“Um, no… I, uh… Actually was hoping to…”

I sat up.

“You want to cook for me?”

‘Please say yes.’

She chuckled, obviously hearing the excitement in my voice. “Yes, if you don’t mind.”

“Hell, no I don’t mind. Um… what time and… uh… Where do you want to…?” I looked around my place. I hadn’t told her everything about me. I mean, she knew I owned my own business with my brother, but anything after that I hadn’t gotten into. I heard her mumble something, and I frowned.

“Max, who are you talking to? Where are you?”

“I am…uh …in your lobby,” she said slowly.

I stood.

“Holy shit, darlin’. Why didn’t you say something? Tell Fred I’ll be right down.”

I ended the call, put on some sneakers, and got on the elevator. As I rode down, I couldn’t help but smile. I told her where I lived, so I wasn’t tripping about that. I was just glad I turned Alex down last night to having company here. When the elevator opened, and I went around the corner, I stopped and smiled. She had her back to me, so I was able to take a few deep breaths to calm down.

“Maxine,” I called out to her and smiled.

She turned, and as I walked up to her, I noticed her eyes rake me up and down. I leaned into her and gave her a hug while secretly inhaling her.

“Hey, are you sure about this?”

I smiled.

“Yes, woman. Now come on and feed me.”

I took her bags from her arms and escorted her toward the elevator.

“What’s going on? I’d thought you be at work today,” I asked her.

She shrugged.

“It was slow today, so Lou told me I didn’t have to come in.”

“Oh yeah? So what made you decide that you’d take pity on me and cook me dinner?” I teased.

She laughed that adorable way I can’t get enough of.

“Well, I was heading home from going shopping. Since I was around your place, I figured I’d check up on you.”

I looked down at her and smiled.

“So, you were thinking about me then, huh?”

“Yes, I was thinking about you.”

“It’s okay. Most women do.”

She laughed. Then I heard her gasp as I opened my door.

“Holy crap, Mason, you live here?”

I walked around her and placed the bags on the kitchen counter.

“Last time I checked. When did it start to snow?”

She walked to the window and looked at the view, “Um, it’s been snowing for about an hour now. They don’t think we will get much as far as inches, though.”

I looked up at the clock and saw it was 3:30 p.m. She saw me check the time and smiled.

“I know it’s early for dinner. It takes a little bit to make the Alfredo sauce.”

My eyebrows rose.

“You’re making the sauce from scratch?”

I sat down at the island, watching her pull out a container of cream from one of the bags. With my direction, she grabbed the pans she needed to cook. I opened a bottle of Cabernet, and we talked while she prepared the Alfredo sauce, chicken, and shrimp. She asked me more questions about what I did for a living, so I explained how I made my living.

“So, let me get this straight. You find businesses that are going down. You buy them and fix them up. Then you resell them. It’s like a fixer-upper.”

I nodded.

“Well, that’s one way of putting it. Most of these companies can’t afford to get out of debt, or they don’t have enough to invest in whatever market they are in. What my company does is research these companies. If it’s worth the investment, we’ll take over the business and bring it back to life. Then, we will resell it to the highest bidder. Sometimes people have an already-successful business, but they don’t know how to bring the company into the twenty-first century. So I step in and make that happen.”

“Wow. How do you know the business that you buy is going to make you money?” she asked me.

I shrugged. “I hire the right people to make sure I do. If they make a mistake, I fire them. It’s that simple. I’m not in the business of losing money on investments I can’t control. It has to be a very good reason for me to buy a company. Now I also help others acquire businesses too. They look to my company to make sure they invest their money smartly. If they have an idea about a business they would like to pursue, they contact me. I’ll research the company to find out if the company can survive in the market it is in. If so, I’ll approve it for purchase. If not, I’ll tell my client what I think and provide proof that they shouldn’t go with the investment.”

She leaned over the counter and studied me.

“And you’ve never made a mistake?”

“I’m not going to say I have never made mistakes. Investing is a gamble, like Blackjack. You don’t know what kind of cards the dealer will pull. You could go bust or get Blackjack. It’s about how much are you willing to gamble. Of course, I have made some mistakes or miscalculations over the early years, but my overall record is stellar. Companies around the world send me, or rather my company, acquisitions they are thinking about pursuing in hopes we could help them. I’m very good at what I do.”

I tried not to sound too cocky, but I couldn’t help myself. She smiled at me.

“Well, I guess you’re successful considering…” She spread her arms out over my apartment. “But can I ask you a question? You’ve been gone for, what, ten years? Has your brother been making all the decisions?”

I shook my head.

“Not all of them. Max, I started this business when I was seventeen. By the time I went off to the Navy, I’d already made my first million. My brother went to college to make sure the business stayed afloat. He’s good at what he does, as well. And we are of like minds, of course.”

“Oh, of course.” She rolled her eyes.

I laughed. “So for the large investments we took on, if I was available we talked, and we both made decisions. When I had some down time, I would give him companies to go after. So, I’m not a complete slacker, although some would think that. I’ve never allowed my brother to put my name on anything we acquired since I’ve been away.”

“Why is that?”

“I don’t know. I just didn’t. He’s the face of the company, while I’m gone dealing with my shit. I didn’t want to have him worry about questioning my decisions. Besides, he’s the likable twin.”

She laughed. “Yeah, I can see that too.”

She turned her back to stir the pasta and check the bread. That, of course, gave me the chance to really admire her body. It was definitely a piece of art constructed by God’s hands alone. Her body was perfect in my eyes. She had just enough cushion that could make a man go crazy. Her ass was round and apple shaped, but not overwhelming. Her waist came in delicately, which enhanced her hips even more. Her thighs…holy hell…they were my favorite so far.

“Do you want to taste?”

I traveled back up to her beautiful face.

Fuck yes, I want to taste. I want to taste every inch of you.

I know just by looking at her that she would taste exquisite. I rose from my chair and moved closer to accept the spoon she held out for me. As I took the spoon, I never took my eyes from hers.

I moaned at the flavor that attacked my taste buds. I reached my right hand around her waist and noticed she had some sauce on her right hand that held the spoon. As I pulled her closer to my body, I removed the spoon. Then I moved her hand closer to my mouth.

With my tongue, I licked the sauce from her hand and moaned again, “That does taste good.”

“It does?” she asked me as she watched me put each finger of hers in my mouth and suck them one by one slowly.

She let a small moan escape her lips and, at that moment, I wanted to taste more of her. I then leaned in and caressed her lips with mine. I kissed her softly at first, just to feel how much she would give to me. She was hesitant at first but only for a second. I ran my fingers in her short hair and pulled her head back, giving me better access to her. She gasped at the slight force I used to move her head, and I took advantage of her mouth opening and thrust my tongue in her beautiful fuckable mouth.

Hot damn, she tasted fucking amazing. The more I kissed her, the more I wanted her. She finally let go and twisted my hair with both of her hands. As she moaned in my mouth, it was like a charge that went through me. I grabbed her ass tightly and squeezed and picked her up. I moved her on the counter, and she opened her legs to invite me in. I didn’t waste any time attacking her delicate body. I started kissing her neck, biting in certain places I knew would drive her crazy.

“Mason,” she moaned softly, and the sound, as I knew it would, almost undid me.

I attacked her mouth again and started exploring this body that I’ve been obsessed with since I saw her almost a month ago.

“Damn baby, you feel so good.”

I regrettably pulled back and … Wait… Did she really just moan?

I looked in her eyes and rubbed her thighs.

“I need to taste more of you, angel,” I croaked, hoping I didn’t sound too desperate.

I felt her hands travel down my back, and she gripped my shirt, trying to pull it up and off me.

“Please,” she responded softly.

Well, hell, that’s all I needed. I moved back and covered her full lips with mine. Kissing her was a fucking drug. She met my tongue, stroke for stroke. It wasn’t sloppy or small mouthed. I mean, she gave me just as much as I gave her. When I felt her grind against me, I didn’t feel I would make it out of the kitchen. Just that moment I heard laughter outside my front door and then keys being put in my lock.

“Fuck me!” I said out loud.

I put Max down and turned to face away from her as she looked at the door in confusion. Just then, Alex stumbled in my apartment, with company no doubt. I tried to take a few deep breaths to try and calm myself down.

“Holy shit. Hey there, Max,” I heard Alex say.

“Hey, girl.” I turned to find Teresa right behind him.

I gave him the most murderous look I could muster, and all he did was chuckle and shrug his apology. I watched Max move to hug her friend and then Alex. Finally, I got myself together and went to greet my unwanted company.

“What the hell are you doing here?” I asked him.

“We were in the neighborhood, and I thought you were up here sulking by yourself. So, I figured we’d come and cheer you up.”

“Oh, how nice of you,” I replied wryly.

“Why would you be sulking? You won your fight, didn’t you?” Max asked, looking at me in confusion.

I sent a look back at Alex. I was going to kill this son of a bitch sooner rather than later.

“Well, he always gets like this around his birthday.”

“It’s your birthday?” both Max and Teresa asked me.

Bastard!

I looked at the ladies. “No, it’s not until a few weeks.”

“And you’re dreading it already?” Tiny asked.

“I just hate the fuss is all. My family makes a big deal out of it. It’s not my thing,” I tried to explain.

That wasn’t entirely accurate. I mean I do hate my birthday and, yes, my family does make a big deal out of the day. But over the years, I’ve learned to cope. No, Alex knows damn well that for the last few weeks I’ve been sulking about Maxine. Again, I can’t wait to get him alone.

“Well, shit. We should keep up the tradition and irritate you completely with a party,” Tiny announced.